Ya Rather Be More Famous Than Rich
In the 2018 Forbes Article titled the “3 Areas of Society Hip Hop Culture Will Dominate By 2020”, author Ogden Payne pointed to politics, education and Corporate America as the areas that hip hop culture will not only continue to penetrate but overwhelm.
Now that may raise some eyebrows for some. On the surface the three areas may appear to have no real relatability to the chart topping, ice wearing rockstar (should now be considered “rapstar”) lifestyle that powers the genre.
Payne continues to write, “Despite hip-hop’s prominent presence in pop culture and status as a preferred genre to listen to, Billboard still posed this question in April: Why hasn’t the hip-hop boom pushed more black executives to the top? In the next few years, Corporate America’s music business—and other industries alike—should see an upswing in African-American executives climbing the corporate ladder.”
I beg to differ with the latter. I do not believe we will see an influx of black and brown executives in corporate America. You will see more artists and entertainers of the “culture,” make an insane amount of money. You will see Corporate America and the trillion dollar media and entertainment industry continue to collaborate and acquiesce to the “culture’s” hottest and most-established artist. I know what you are thinking. You saying my g, you tripping right now. Niggas is making more bread than ever. We own the culture right now. Dudes is moving hard right now…. I mean we have billionaires now!... “Ok”, as Hov infamously stated in the 4:44 single “The Story of OJ.”
During a 2018 interview, Jeff Bezos was asked if he feels guilty for being worth $110 billion. His response,”no, I do not feel guilty.” The CEO of Amazon went on to explain the company’s market capitalization briefly rose over $1 trillion in 2018 resulting in $890 billion that happened to benefit the pockets of others. Bezos only took home ¼ of the wealth that he generated for others despite being the major driver in the creation of that wealth. That, my friends, is equity based on market valuation; which is ideal in a capitalist driven market.
Let’s continue to unpack the brilliance of this answer. As we wrote in, The Gentrification of Hip Hop part 2, (https://www.wbcnewyork.com/blog-content/the-gentrification-of-hip-hop) Generation Hip Hop has produced multi-millionaires without question. However, our formula for success is wrong. Hip-Hop has produced very rich individuals, but WE HAVE YET TO PRODUCE multi-million dollar or even billion-dollar companies. Hip Hop grosses billions of dollars annually yet the percentage of wealth that flows back to the “culture” is less than 1%!
Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, Ralph Lauren, Rupert Murdock, Warren Buffet etc, are examples of very successful individuals, but they have also built successful companies. That is the brilliance of capital mobilization. These heralded businessmen have generated wealth for not only themselves but their shareholders, employers, cities and states. Their institutions employ hundreds of thousands of people from all walks of life. They create stock options, health benefits, 401k’s! They also provide positive returns or dividends for shareholders.
And at the heart of Jeff Bezos's wealth and those like him is cooperative economics. All of them have established publicly traded companies so that the average joe can purchase stock and benefit from the growth of these companies.
If 1973 is considered the official birthdate of hip hop that means the cultural phenomenon is now 44 years old. Younger artists and creatives of the culture have to mature as hip hop has matured. I’m not saying the youthful discontent and rebellious spirit that hip hop embodies needs to change. But hip hop needs to create institutions that build wealth, employ thousands and stimulate the growth of industries for the very cities and communities that gave birth to this incredible orb of influence.
Hip Hop needs to transform from genre to an industry beyond the music! This is a call to action for young artists and creatives. Let us begin to contemplate the potential political, educational and business impact that our brands can have on our communities. We owe it to the incubators that birthed our music, our style, our perspective.
Ibrahim Bolivar, CEO of Terzetto Group, Brand Strategist & Contributor.
Follow him @bolivaribrahim & theterzettogroupcollective.com
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